Garden Gate: Gardeners need to dig into detective workSeveral years ago I was picking broccoli when I noticed velvety, green, inch-long worms gnawing on the leaves. Never seen them before. I grabbed my camera, going from panicked gardener to calmer detective. After a quick search on the Internet I discovered that the culprit was indeed a cabbage worm (imported) and that there were several ways to control them. Whether it’s protecting plants from looming frost, gettin...

Fish Factor: Buyers believe catch shares worth more Right after the yearly halibut catch limits are announced each January, brokers usually are busy with buying and selling and transferring shares of the catch. But it’s been slow going so far, even with slight harvest increases in nearly all Alaska fishing areas for the first time in nearly a decade. The buyers are there — it’s the sellers that are scarce. “There’s less of a rush this year, but there are less quota...

Rebuttal to "Kodiak Drug War" Barbara Bellinger’s Letter to the Editor (Feb. 26) drips with ignorance! The “war on drugs” has been an absolute failure! Unless the true intent of this “war” is to put millions in prison, inflate the street price of drugs to astronomical levels, increase violence, militarize police, increase warrantless spying, destroy our Constitution and increase profits for the security/prison complex. If so, then it’s been a ...

SCORING DROUGHT: Offense comes up short in losses to WasillaA pair of offensively challenged quarters kept Kodiak from picking up its first marquee victory of the season. The Bears combined to score a mere five points — two baskets — in the final quarters of both Northern Lights Conference losses to Wasilla. Kodiak lost 35-30 on Friday and 43-30 on Saturday in the final regular season boys basketball games of the season at Kodiak High School. “We have the inability to scor...

Kodiak girls split at WasillaKodiak’s girls basketball team finished the regular season with an unusual road split against Wasilla. The Bears lost 61-52 on Friday and then picked up a forfeit victory on Saturday in the Northern Lights Conference season finale. According to assistant coach Sandra Gregory, had Wasilla played an official game on Saturday, it would have put it over the maximum number of games allotted for the regular season, whic...

Kodiak ESS drops two games in the ValleyThe Kodiak Emerging Small Schools boys basketball team dropped a pair of games in the Mat-Su Valley over the weekend. ESS lost to 83-54 to Wasilla Lake on Friday and 75-73 to Birchwood Christian on Saturday in Wasilla. This week, ESS (2-8) plays in the Peninsula Conference Championships at Lumin Christi in Anchorage. The top two teams advance to the state tournament.

Wild Alaskan owner issues statement after indictment Darren Byler, owner of the boat-based strip club anchored outside of Kodiak’s harbors since June, issued the following statement Sunday after a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against him and his wife, charging them with improper disposal of human waste into waters in and around Kodiak: “False statements (were provided) to a federal grand jury in order to obtain an indictment. The false statem...

Saturday hoops roundupFor the second straight game, Kodiak's offense failed to produce in the final quarter. The Bears were held to two points in the closing eight minutes and fell 43-30 to Wasilla in a Northern Lights Conference boys basketball game Saturday at Kodiak High School. Kodiak combined to score five points — two baskets — in the final quarters of both its losses to Wasilla. The Warriors won 35-30 on Friday. "We have the ina...

Friday hoops roundupKodiak nearly picked up a marquee victory Friday against Wasilla. Instead, too many missed opportunities cost the Bears in a 35-30 loss to the Warriors in a Northern Lights Conference boys basketball game at KHS. Senior Jemuel Mangalus supplied the bulk of Kodiak's offense, scoring 20 of the team's 30 points. Down by as many as 12 in the first half, the Bears clawed back and pulled to within 33-30 on a Billy Alcai...

Researchers discover increases in sterility in Kodiak Sitka deer I've hunted deer in the Kodiak Archipelago since 1967. I soon discovered venison here to be the finest I had ever eaten. For 47 years it has been a major part of my family's nutrition. In 1994, I sighted and later shot an abnormal buck. This animal had antlers still in the velvet in late November and had grown several non-typical points near the bases. This buck had the body conformation of a doe and had no testic...